CHAPTER 34
I'm in Charge Now.
DEATH EATERS OCCUPY HOGWARTS
Yesterday, December 18th, death eaters entered the grounds of Hogwarts Castle in Scotland, home for more than one thousand years to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Early in the morning, the occupation commenced when over one hundred of the followers of He Who Must Not Be Named walked through the front gate, and by noon the castle appeared to be fully under their control. No opposition met the invaders, as the only residents remaining were a skeleton crew of house elves and the groundskeeper, the half-giant Rubeus Hagrid. Hagrid, realizing that resistance would be futile, abandoned his cabin and escaped through the Forbidden Forest.
Until recently, wards placed on the castle by the now deceased headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, had inexplicably remained in place, preventing the forces of the dark lord from entering. For reasons not yet understood, the wards recently disappeared, leaving the school grounds unprotected. The school had been closed shortly after Halloween following the attack on the Ministry by You Know Who's followers.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that the death eaters have abandoned the Ministry offices, though great care is being taken in reentering the structure. The current location of You Know Who himself is uncertain, but it is believed that he either is or soon will be at Hogwarts Castle. No reason for the transfer of the dark lord's forces is known.
BATTLES BETWEEN DARK LORD AND RESISTANCE INTENSIFY
In the days before Christmas, resistance forces have increased their activity and have engaged the forces of He Who Must Not Be Named with greater frequency. Losses have been taken on both sides of various skirmishes. The Prophet has reports that at least a dozen death eaters have been captured, and several others have been killed. Losses to resistance forces are unknown.
As the Ministry of Magic in essence no longer exists and the location of Minister of Magic Scrimgeour is a closely guarded secret, former Aurors of the Ministry, as well as others who wish to resist the rising power of the dark lord's forces, have joined the informal resistance movement. The resistance forces have united under the name of The Order of the Phoenix, a formerly secret organization first established by You Know Who's most vocal enemy, Albus Dumbledore. According to a spokesperson of the Order, its numbers have increased dramatically as the wizarding community of Britain comes to terms with the rise of You Know Who.
"Many in the magical community have fled," the spokesperson explained, "but those that remain have decided that they must fight. You cannot stay neutral in this war. Either you are with (You Know Who) or you are against him. If you are against him, then you have a duty to resist."
Most recently, the Order of the Phoenix intercepted a death eater unit which planned to attack a muggle shopping center, apparently solely for the purpose of creating terror. Order members learned of the planned attack and laid a trap, capturing the entire unit in a surprise ambush.
The Order emphasizes that it can only do so much in its fight, and it needs the cooperation of all in the magical community.
As the days in December rapidly passed, Harry learned both from the Daily Prophet and from Arthur Weasley that the battles between the Order and Voldemort's forces had increased. The Order essentially took over publication of the Daily Prophet, using it as a propaganda voice. The articles reported on the Order's successes, but many failures occurred as well. It was true, however, that more and more witches and wizards joined the Order, realizing that they had to choose sides.
Voldemort also recruited, but after initial successes, he ran into difficulties. His tactics now well known, many families fled the country, depriving the dark lord of wizards and witches that he could have coerced to join his forces. Those that remained quickly realized that they either had to join the Order of the Phoenix, flee or hide. The gross numbers now favored the Order, but many of its new recruits arrived with no battle experience, and the Order distractedly spent much time providing basic training. Nevertheless, from the initial gloom following Dumbledore's "death" in June, a grim optimism emerged.
Remus Lupin rushed into the room where Kingsley Shacklebolt already waited. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat across the table in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.
"Thank you for coming," Harry immediately began, shaking his former professor's hand, then placing a silencing charm on the door, "We have a lot to discuss."
The two leaders of the Order of the Phoenix seemed to have an air about them that did not exist a few months earlier. They were generals now, with a real army to command. They also had become extremely busy men, and arranging a meeting with them proved to be difficult.
"I'll get right to the point," Harry stated while returning to his seat, "Things are different now, and we can tell you what before we could not." He had the attention of the two men, who no doubt had speculated for months about Harry's mission. "Do you know what a horcrux is?" Remus and Kingsley glanced at each other, trying their best to conceal their surprise.
"We know what it is," Remus replied, "though I can't say I know much."
"Well, as you know, a horcrux is the splitting of a soul and placing a portion of it into an object. It can only be created by committing a murder. Voldemort has done it."
Kingsley tried to understand the consequences of Harry's statement.
"So you are saying that Voldemort has sliced off a piece of his soul and cannot truly die, even if he's killed."
"Actually," Harry continued, "he created six horcruxes, but Professor Dumbledore and I have destroyed all of them. That is what we've been doing ever since he died." The men could not hide their astonishment.
"Did you say 'six,' Harry?" Remus sputtered, "Is that even possible?"
"It's possible, all right," Ron interjected, "not advisable, but possible."
"And you've been able to destroy them? All of them?" Remus asked, disbelief in his voice, "How did you do it?"
"It's a long story," Hermione remarked, "and I don't think we have time to explain it fully. Suffice it to say that Professor Dumbledore and Harry Potter are perhaps the only two wizards alive who had the power to destroy them. They almost killed Harry, but in the end he destroyed them." Pride and admiration filled her voice.
"Hermione's right, it is a long story, and I'll be happy to tell it to you over tea some day, but now is not the time." Harry remained focused and businesslike, his hands folded in front of him on the table. "We destroyed the last horcrux earlier this month, and we've been trying to figure out what to do next. Voldemort is now mortal again, and we have to figure out how I am going to kill him."
"YOU are going to kill him?" Shacklebolt asked with raised eyebrows, "Surely you have done more than your part. We have many experienced and battle-tested aurors among our ranks. Wouldn't it make more sense for them to do it?"
"You would think so, yes, but there is something more that you do not know. The prophecy." The two men eyed the young man suspiciously.
"The record of the prophecy broke, did it not, when Sirius died?" Remus asked, not caring whether Harry might find reference to his godfather hurtful, "unless . . ., unless somebody else heard it." Harry could see the cogs turning in Remus' mind.
"Dumbledore. The prophecy had been made in his presence, and he showed it to me in his pensieve. I am the one 'marked as his equal.' I am the one 'with the power he knows not.' Neither of us can live while the other survives. The Prophet has it right for a change. As much as I hate the name, I am the 'Chosen One.'"
Nobody made a sound as the two men studied the three teens across the table. That they had accomplished extraordinary feats was beyond dispute. Preventing the destruction of Tower Bridge, capturing Severus Snape and Narcissa Malfoy, destroying horcruxes. These young people were formidable, especially the boy with the messy black hair and green eyes. Shacklebolt wondered whether their "battle-tested aurors" could have accomplished what these three had, and he knew the answer. Not a chance.
Hermione broke the silence, "We can vouch for Harry and for the prophecy. Dumbledore told him and provided him with more information that only he knew. That's how we knew about the horcruxes. We had to keep it a secret; we could not take any chance that Voldemort might find out. But Harry has destroyed them all. One time he ended up in a coma for a week and another time he almost died, but he did it. Nobody else could have. Nobody else can kill Voldemort."
"Why are you telling us now?" Kingsley inquired.
Ron explained, "The horcruxes are gone. Voldemort is now mortal, but Harry still has to kill him. We have been talking about our options for days now. It's time to cooperate with the Order, to put together a plan to allow Harry to get at Voldemort with a fair chance, not with a hundred death eaters around him. If we can get Harry and Voldemort alone, Harry can defeat him!"
The two men again looked unconvinced. Was Harry a special wizard? Certainly. Could he outduel one of the most feared dark lords in history? The young witch read their minds.
"Harry is one of the most powerful wizards in the world. You have not seen what he can do. Ron and I saw him produce a patronus that drove off at least two dozen dementors as easily as you could brush off a fly. We saw him in school mastering the most difficult seventh-year spells in minutes without even trying. Harry is the only one who can defeat him, but he needs our help. He has to have a fair chance."
Ron jumped in again, explaining, "We think it's a break for us that Voldemort has moved to Hogwarts. The three of us know our way around it like the back of our hand. Remus too. We also have the map. What we need is to develop a plan to isolate Harry and Voldemort."
"We're telling you about this now, because we need your help," Harry concluded, "You have much more experience in putting together a battle plan. I'm only going to have one chance, but if I'm successful, the war is over. Just like that. If I die, then the war must continue, but I am the only one who can stop him now."
Remus and Kingsley looked into each other's eyes, silently communicating. A moment later, Kingsley waved his wand and a rolled parchment appeared in the air. He grabbed it and spread a map of Hogwarts on the table.
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Christmas Day almost reminded Harry of the Christmases he spent with the Dursleys on Privet Drive. Given that the wizarding world had shut down, no shopping trips to Diagon Alley could be arranged, and even a visit to a muggle mall would be too dangerous. No gifts this year. Other than decorations, a wonderful turkey supper, hugs and half-hearted wishes of "Happy Christmas," the day passed much the same as any other.
Fred and George joined them for the meal, adding some much needed levity to the normally somber house. Eyeing them in the sitting room afterwards, Harry remembered back to the summer when the twins brought their two female friends who took such an interest in him. Harry wished that the two girls, whose names he never remembered, had accompanied them. They seemed to enjoy themselves immensely, not taking anything or anyone seriously, and always having fun. And good looking to boot.
Not that Harry did not enjoy the view of the two young females who did occupy the house, though he noticed with disappointment that due to the freezing weather outside, the pair dressed much more warmly than a month or two ago. Nevertheless, the two girls filled out their sweaters admirably, in Harry's opinion, though he had no one to whom he could confide his musings. Certainly he could not say anything to Ron, not about his sister and former girlfriend. As strange as it may seem for a pair of teenage boys, the topic of girls never arose in their conversations.
At least the tension among the four had eased. Ron and Hermione acted civilly enough, though Harry often caught Ron staring at her. Hermione did not seem to return the same interest, and in fact Harry often noticed both Ginny and Hermione stealing glances at himself. Whenever Harry caught them, they would immediately turn away, and Harry did not care enough to ask them why. Of all the things on his mind, this ranked near the bottom.
He did worry about Ginny, however. In the days since Dumbledore's death, the four friends had spent hours contemplating their next move, which ultimately ended with the meeting with Remus and Kingsley. Ginny often had deer-in-the-headlights eyes when they spoke openly of arranging a confrontation between Harry and Voldemort. She generally spoke little during these discussions, and Harry could not avoid the feeling that Ginny wanted to delay the confrontation forever. The comments she did offer usually involved allowing the Order to take action first, to delay the final battle until a future date.
Harry would have none of that. He wanted to meet Voldemort yesterday, and in a sense he felt more relaxed than he had in months. One way or the other, his struggle soon would end. But his worries about Ginny increased. She was in over her head, and he mentally chastised himself that he had allowed her to join. He could never forgive himself if something happened to her, if she died, and Harry could not bring himself to think how Molly and Arthur would suffer if their youngest child, their only daughter, should be taken from them.
Of course, he most definitely did not want Hermione to die either, but for reasons he could not completely understand, he felt differently about her. She had always been one of them, right from the incident with the troll in first year. He could not succeed without her, and unavoidably she had to face danger. No doubt her parents would suffer her death just as much as Molly and Arthur, but Harry barely knew Mr. and Mrs. Granger. Rightly or wrongly, it did not feel the same.
All this thought allowed Harry to reach a conclusion: His death would cause less heartache than the death of Ron, Ginny or Hermione. He had no parents to mourn him, no brothers or sisters to miss him, no relatives who cared if he lived or died. True, his friends would mourn, but some suffering could not be avoided. And in the end, they would have their parents and relatives to comfort them and to help them forward with their lives. His friends had so much more to lose than he.
He would take Voldemort down, even if he had to go down with him.
The four teens migrated to the girls' room for additional Christmas night conversation, and despite the uncertainty of coming events, they enjoyed their time together. Finally Harry tired and bade the others good night, only to find that Ginny followed him down the hallway towards his room.
"Can I talk to you for a minute, Harry?"
"Sure," Harry responded, opening the door of his bedroom.
The young witch paused uncomfortably, flicking her hair from her shoulders. She had allowed her red hair to grow a few inches longer than normal, and it now reached well below her neck. Harry preferred it a bit shorter but had not dared express his opinion. Ginny stepped slowly towards the back of the room and finally turned around.
"I see you looking at me, Harry. I know you're disappointed with me. You think you made a bad decision when you let me join you three," she explained, her eyes directed at Harry's feet. Harry stood uncomfortably a couple of feet from the door and did not respond. If he had, he would have had to agree with her. The red head lifted her head, and suddenly defiance filled her eyes. She approached the young wizard and looked into his eyes.
"You're wrong, Harry! I'm strong enough and I'm brave enough. All I want is for you to give me a chance. I won't let you down."
Harry's green eyes stared back emotionlessly. She's behind the times, he thought, She doesn't realize that there is nothing more for her to do. It's all on my shoulders now. He did not know how to respond.
"I'm not disappointed in you, Ginny, but I should not have let you join us. I've just needlessly exposed you to danger. You want to help, and I appreciate that, but it's late in the game now. Voldemort and I have spotted the snitch, and the rest of the game doesn't matter anymore. The only important thing is who grabs the snitch. I have to get it first."
Ginny understood the Quidditch analogy and continued to stare into the eyes of her great friend. She noticed a difference in them, an acceptance, even relief, that had not existed just a few weeks ago.
"You may be right, Harry, but I want you to know that if I have an opportunity to help, I won't let you down. Maybe I'm not Hermione, but I'm a talented witch too. Don't keep underestimating me. When the time comes, I'll do whatever needs to be done. I'll do anything to help you." Harry could not help but be affected by the passion in her voice.
"I won't, Ginny. I won't underestimate you. You are talented, and you are brave too. If the opportunity arises, I'm sure you'll perform well under pressure. I just hope that there won't be any need for that." The witch stepped forward, and the two hugged briefly before bidding each other good night.
Harry lay in bed that night pondering his conversation with Ginny and all that had occurred over the previous days. Incredibly, he slept better these nights than he had in years. In a sense, he felt that he had already succeeded, no matter the outcome of his upcoming confrontation with Voldemort. By itself, the elimination of the horcruxes constituted an enormous success. Even if Voldemort should defeat him, Harry had rendered him a mortal, capable of being killed by anyone. The dark lord no longer could live forever. If nothing else, Voldemort would die a natural death, perhaps one hundred years from this day, but he would die nonetheless. Even if Harry failed in his final struggle, Voldemort had been greatly weakened and now faced a true opposition force. Ginny wanted to help, Ron and Hermione too, but with any luck, he no longer needed their assistance.
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"The death eaters have retained the anti-apparation wards, but there do not appear to be any other protections. Even the anti-apparation wards only extend a hundred yards or so around the castle itself, as best we can tell. The forbidden forest is not affected at all, and we can move about it at will, although the centaurs do not appreciate our presence. We have not attempted to enter the castle, but we have had the exterior watched for several days, and there is virtually no activity outside. Occasionally a death eater will walk down towards Hagrid's cabin in order to apparate. The cabin is outside the restricted zone, though it appears that a couple of death eaters are there at all times as guards. We have approached the front gate under invisibility cloaks, and there no protections to it at all. You can walk right through."
The auror had completed his report to Remus in the Order's headquarters, an abandoned farm in central England. Harry, Ron and Hermione had been transported to the structure, which on the inside served as a busy war center, with some two dozen operatives rushing around. They had been taken to a "situation room" in which maps of various parts of Britain and British cities hung from the walls, and a huge diagram of Hogwarts lay spread out on the table.
"Do we know where Voldemort is located within the castle?" Remus asked abruptly.
"No. We have never seen him, and from our vantage points, we are not able to see inside beyond a few windows. The next step would be to infiltrate the castle in some way. That would, of course, be extremely risky."
"Thank you, Poulter. You may leave." The three teens and Remus waited for the auror to exit and then turned their attention back to the map.
"Well, it will not be difficult to amass a force near the castle," Remus opined, "but we'd be moving blind. Somehow we need to get inside that castle unseen. Unfortunately the Marauders' Map only works if we are on the grounds."
"We might be able to sneak someone in through the secret passages," Ron considered, "but I don't know how much he could find out without getting caught. Do you think they know of the tunnels."
"I'm positive they do. Peter Pettigrew, my old 'friend' is there, almost certainly. He knows that castle better than any of us, because he's seen it as a man and as a rat. Sneaking a man in will be almost impossible, but what other choice do we have? We need more information!"
The four stood silently for several moments until Harry realized that once again they were thinking too narrowly.
"Why does it have to be a man, or a woman? It could be a non-human. Maybe a house elf. Or Issamir, a snake. They fear the dark lord too, and they want to see him defeated." Remus perked up with Harry's comment.
"You may be on to something there, Harry. Unfortunately, Voldemort expelled all the house elves upon his arrival; didn't want the creatures there. I think he fears them, and with good reason. Certainly a snake could get in and then report to Harry, but the snake wouldn't be able to understand anything that's said."
"I could possess Issamir again. We're a good team. Or maybe somebody could possess a mouse or rat or something like that. Are there any animagi that could get in?"
"Of course!" exclaimed Hermione, "Rita Skeeter. She's an animagi. A beetle. She did it once. They'd never expect it. She could do it!"
Remus frowned at the mention of the gossipy reporter formerly with the Daily Prophet. A thoroughly unlikeable person, and Remus in fact detested her. Nevertheless, Hermione as usual made sense. There could be no better way to gather information, and personal feelings could be allowed no part in his decision making.
He bolted to the door and yelled at an aide, "Find Rita Skeeter and arrange a meeting as soon as possible. Not here. Someplace else. It's urgent."
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"Let's talk, Tom. Why are you avoiding me?"
Every night, Harry entered the mind of Lord Voldemort. Every night, Voldemort immediately erected his block wall of Occlumency. The dark lord would not even respond briefly. Harry had taken to taunting him quickly before the dark lord blocked him out.
"I've missed you, Tom. Why don't you come around anymore."
"You're hurting my feelings, Tom. I miss our little chats."
Was this doing any good? Harry had no idea, and he made sure not to mention his late-night forays to Hermione and the others. Probably they would not approve, but Harry wanted Voldemort to worry. In fact one of his last taunts summed it up.
"Looks like I've turned the tables, Tom. I'm in charge now."
Yet the young wizard did not delude himself. Voldemort may be worried, but he would not back down, and he remained an extremely dangerous man, mortal though he may be. At first, Harry tried to penetrate through the block wall, but Dumbledore had told him not to waste his effort. An accomplished occlumens such as Voldemort can block out any intrusion, no matter the strength of the intruding wizard. Yet Harry felt heartened by Voldemort's refusal to engage in mind-to-mind combat. Weeks earlier when they had done battle, Harry came out on top. He now stood so close now to finishing it all. Victory or death. Either alternative represented an end to his struggle. He was ready for either.
As Christmas came and went, the magical world came to a standstill. All of the shops on Diagon Alley had closed, snow piled high in front of their doors. Any shopping for necessities had to be accomplished in secret or in muggle stores. Few that remained in the country dared leave their hiding spots for Christmas shopping. Minister Scrimgeour no longer made any public pronouncements, or at least the Order-operated Daily Prophet refused to print them. Nobody pretended that a Ministry existed any longer; the Order of the Phoenix had become the de facto government.
Rita Skeeter proved impossible to locate. Since she no longer had a job in London, she had fled the city like so many others, especially since she would receive no welcome from either side in the conflict. The Order dedicated what limited resources it had in the attempt to locate her, but they lost her trail. She probably fled to the continent, they guessed, where she would be extremely difficult to locate. After nearly a week of searching, the Order had to face reality. Rita Skeeter could not be found.
"The problem remains," Remus concluded after filling in Harry and the rest as to the status of the search, "We need to gather intelligence from inside Hogwarts. We're putting together a team to consider our options. Basically none of the options that we've bounced around are very attractive."
Harry looked on impassively, but inside his stomach churned. This sitting around was excruciating, and he had a mind simply to walk right through the front gate at Hogwarts and in through the giant front doors of the castle. Maybe working with the Order had not been such a good idea, he pondered. If he had remained separate from the Order, he could have taken his own action, and almost certainly he would have done something by now. Something stupid maybe, but something nonetheless.
"Are many death eaters leaving the castle?" Hermione inquired.
"Not many, we only see a few per day. Yet they are continuing their attacks around the country. There has to be some other way in and out of the castle, but we haven't discovered it."
"Could they be using one of the tunnels and then apparating from Hogsmeade," Ron asked.
"We have all of the known tunnels watched at all times, in Honeydukes and the Shrieking Shack, but there has been no activity at all. They could have dug a tunnel somewhere else, just outside of the anti-apparation zone. We just don't know." Remus shook his head in frustration.
Though he had not yet spoken a word, Remus, Hermione, Ron and Ginny, who had been allowed in on this conversation, all looked at Harry, who sat uncomfortably in the overstuffed chair of his sitting room. Finally he offered an opinion.
"Well, if Tom doesn't want to let us in, maybe we need to force him to come out."
"How could we do that?" Ginny asked warily, afraid of the answer.
"I'll challenge him. Publicly. We can publish it in the Prophet every day; I'm sure he's reading it. Voldemort doesn't like to be shown up. If we embarrass him enough, he'll lose patience."
Harry expected Remus and his friends to criticize his plan as overly risky, but Remus looked thoughtfully at the young man.
"That's a possibility, Harry. We'll add that to our list. One way or the other, we have to do something."